GlaxoSmithKline, UK, has reported fall in net earnings by 2.2 per cent to £1,316 million during the third quarter ended September 2008 from £1,346 million in the corresponding period of last year mainly due to stiff competition in the US markets. The company's sales increased by 7.4 per cent to £5,882 million from £5.476 million. Continued sales growth in vaccines, higher sales in emerging markets and consumer healthcare helped to offset impact of generic competition in US markets. The earning per share improved to £25.2 from £23.7.

Its pharmaceutical sales declined to £4,888 million during the quarter ended September 2008 from £4,591 million in the last period with US turnover down by 13% to £2.1 billion, impacted by generic competition to mature brands. In Europe, sales grew by 6 per cent to £1.6 billion, emerging markets sales grew by 9 per cent to £581 million and Asia Pacific/Japan sales grew by 5 per cent to £464 million.

Andrew Witty, CEO, said, "We are managing a considerable transition to our product portfolio this year as several mature pharmaceutical brands encounter generic competition in the USA. In the short-term, this is having a significant impact on pharmaceutical sales, although we continue to see good growth from other areas of the pharmaceuticals portfolio, including a recent improvement in prescription volumes for Advair in the US. Also helping offset the generic impact has been growth in other parts of our business, such as vaccines, emerging markets and consumer healthcare."

"Our performance is in line with our expectations and I am pleased with how we have so far responded to what is undoubtedly a challenging year for GSK. In pharmaceuticals, we are making good progress to renew our product line, with 10 product launches so far this year in critical growth areas, such as oncology, and in existing franchises," Witty added.

For the nine months ended September 2008, the company's sales increased by 4.2 per cent to £17,442 million from £16,742 million in the similar period of last year. However, the net profit declined by 1.7 per cent to £4,160 million from £4,234 million.